LIVERPOOL will today announce their intention to remain at Anfield and expand the ground into a 60,000-capacity arena after scrapping plans for a new stadium.

Two years to the day since American John W Henry
bought the club, the long-running issue of where Liverpool will play
their home matches is to take a significant leap forward.

Liverpool
City Council are to unveil plans for the regeneration and, as part of
that, the Reds will confirm that their “preference” is now to redevelop
the existing ground rather than move to a new state-of-the-art facility.

The
blueprint, estimated to cost £154million, would see a phased
redevelopment of the Anfield Road stand and Main Stand, letting
capacity rise from 45,000 and narrow the gap on Manchester United and
Arsenal in terms of match-day revenues. Crucially, the council is now working in partnership with Liverpool after accepting that a new stadium is off the agenda.

Ambitious plans to move the club to nearby Stanley Park were first submitted nearly a decade ago and have since been revamped and scaled down. But, now, they have been ripped up for good.

The council has the option of applying for compulsory purchase orders if necessary

Henry, the principal owner of Fenway Sports Group, has always wanted to remain at Anfield but has spent the past two years weighing up the options.

A lucrative naming-rights deal was explored, but FSG has since settled on the belief that building a new stadium does not make financial sense.

Liverpool are unlikely to go into too much detail today, given issues remaining with residents’ housing. They have agreed resettlement packages but others remain outstanding.

The council has the option of applying for compulsory purchase orders if necessary.